Fairhaven Mother’s Only Photos Of Deceased Daughter Stolen

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BOSTON (CBS) – A Fairhaven woman is afraid the only photos of her infant daughter who died a year ago may be gone. They were stolen from her car while she was visiting the cemetery.

Samantha Melanson’s daughter Emma was stillborn last June 30th.

“She went for her appointment and they couldn’t detect a heartbeat,” Samantha’s mother Cathy said.

Everyday since then Samantha and Cathy have visited the infant’s grave at Riverside Cemetery.

They were planting flowers at her daughter’s grave on Sunday, when they noticed a man acting suspiciously near her car.

WBZ-TV’s Diana Perez reports.

Her mom Cathy described witnessing the theft. “My granddaughter said, ‘oh I think that’s a jogger.’ That’s when my daughter said, ‘No that’s not a jogger; he’s too close to the car.’ My daughter said, ‘Hey!’ He looked up at her and ran.”

“When I got down there, I noticed that my cell phone was gone and he had taken my cell phone and ran off,” Samantha told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Wednesday.

She said the $300 Motorola phone meant “the world to her” because it had her only pictures of her daughter.

“It had her original ultrasound pictures and some other pictures,” explains Cathy. “She’s dumbfounded, sad, angry. All those emotions are the same ones she had a year ago.”

Police arrested 26-year-old Shaun Davis of New Bedford Tuesday night.

He’s charged with larceny over $250 and breaking and entering into a motor vehicle in the daytime with intent to commit a felony.

But police have not found the phone and Fairhaven Sgt. Kevin Kobza says Davis isn’t cooperating with police.

“I have pictures of her on there that I don’t have anywhere else,” she said. “I would only want to ask for my memory card back. If he wants my phone that bad, he can keep it. All I want is that memory card back.”

If anyone has information about cell phone, please call the Fairhaven Police Department at 508-997-7421.